Studio Design Using Existing Curved Cyc Wall? Any Problems?

[Studio Jiimaan]

We are considering a property for a new project studio....an existing commercial soundstage....with 15.5 ft. ceilings and over 2800 sq. ft. It has a curved cyc wall, 20 ft. wide and 45 ft long.

A cyc wall, also known as a cyclorama wall, is a curved wall mostly used as a backdrop for photography and video shoots. A cyclorama wall allows for consistent and seamless background transitions, which creates a smoother shooting experience.

Our intention is to incorporate this existing cyc wall into one of the live rooms to give an added option for music video production. Should we be concerned with any issues or problems when recording/tracking in such a space, due to curved wall?

Below are drawings of existing soundstage as well as planned recording studio layout with the mezzanine level included (showing lounge/kitchen)....the idea is to butt up to the mezzanine section to allow viewing through double glass window from lounge/kitchen area....there is an overhang allowing access on ground level:

Ground Level:



Photo of Existing Soundstage Showing Cyc Wall:



Mezzanine Level:



Proposed Studio Layout:

[cashhewn]

Wow, congratulations on this possible new space, it looks fantastic.

I can’t speak to the soundwave reflection issues/implications with the cyc wall in the live room, but what I would say is this: as commercial media ventures need to be as flexible as possible these days with multiple revenue stream possibilities, and you have a ready to go stills/moving image studio there already, consider not blocking access to the live room that has the cyc so that very large/tall things like scissor lifts and scenic flats etc can still get in there to access the lighting grid and build sets etc. And of course you’d want to be able to easily clear everything in and out of there on a daily/weekly basis if you are having different production crews coming in and out of there frequently: they need access to the full floor space footprint and you don’t want your baby grand damaged (in any case, even covered in sound blankets, it will immediately be used to hold all manner of things/food/drinks as well as will any other flat surface!). Having film/video productions in there could easily be a huge part of your income so I’d want to keep that totally easily available to rent and turn over quickly. And remember that the cyc and floor will need to be painted and repainted many times in white or chromakey green or blue, often times the day or days before the production and consider all that wet paint.

Lastly off the top of my head, if you ever wanted to be in the control room mixing or editing etc and have a visual production going on simultaneously out in the live room, you might want to consider some sort of isolation transformer for all electrical circuits feeding the control room gear: if you share circuits with video production lighting of all types on various dimmers/rheostats/variacs etc then these could possibly cause noise/hum/buzz problems with your audio equipment I would imagine.

Looks fantastic, good luck!

[Wonks]

The shown drum kit location is probably the most problematic position because all rear-wall reflections will be focussed back to the drum kit (or whatever is placed in that location).

I don't have any idea how acoustically reflective the curved material is, but I'd make sure that any instrument/mic is forward of the radius point for the curve to avoid excessive reflections and phase cancellations.

Though looking again, the curve looks more like a parabloa than a circular arc, so that may be a non-issue.

[James Perrett]

My first thought about that layout is that I'm not keen on the idea that people have to go through one of the studio areas to reach the control room. I would maybe be tempted to have the control room near the bottom of the stairs to the mezzanine so that all the rooms can be accessed without having to go through another room.

If the curved wall is made from a solid material then it may well focus sounds at certain points. Is there a way that you could use something less permanent for photography or video? I know that our photography studio used large retractable sheets which could be pulled down from the ceiling when there was a photo shoot.

[Studio Jiimaan]

Another possible layout....isolating control room bit better as not putting it backing onto a laneway (though not ever overly busy laneway). Back of the control room is a storage area.



With regard to constant painting of cyc walls I think a better idea is to use white, blue and chroma-key green screens on the wall instead of continual painting.

[Drew Stephenson]

Presumably you've engaged a professional acoustician for a job like this? What do they recommend?
Or are the two options their recommendations?

[Studio Jiimaan]

We do have a professional acoustician and studio designer....world class in fact....unfortunately away on other business for a few weeks so posted what I have to see what answers I could get regarding cyc wall....

One last layout possibility:

[N i g e l]

The shown drum kit location is probably the most problematic position because all rear-wall reflections will be focussed back to the drum kit (or whatever is placed in that location).

I don't have any idea how acoustically reflective the curved material is, but I'd make sure that any instrument/mic is forward of the radius point for the curve to avoid excessive reflections and phase cancellations.

Though looking again, the curve looks more like a parabloa than a circular arc, so that may be a non-issue.

I dont know about studio design but parabolic reflections were my 1st. thought

either studio sounds are focused ontoa hotspot, the drum kit or drum kit sounds are beamed into the studio.

The whispering gallery in St Pauls works by parabolic reflection.

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... reflectors

[Drew Stephenson]

What's the cyc wall made of?

[Wonks]

With respect to the possible video side of things, will you have enough space to make use of the cyc wall if you are filming more than one or two people after adding in some of the extra walls and the control room? There are of course very wide angle lenses, but they do distort the image and make things look unnatural. So you may also want to consider your view lines when locating items like the control room if the video aspect is going to be important.

[Drew Stephenson]

I think some of this is going to come down to how you want to prioritise the two spaces. As Wonks suggests above, the latter two options do cut down on the amount of space available in the video room.
I would be tempted to ask the acoustician about an option where the control room is in the bottom right corner with its centre-line pointing at the corner of the stairwell.

[Drew Stephenson]

I would be tempted to ask the acoustician about an option where the control room is in the bottom right corner with its centre-line pointing at the corner of the stairwell.

Actually scratch that last bit, I've just had a bit of a play and that won't work in the space.

[Studio Jiimaan]

Apparently the website where images linked to is down.....which is okay as have decided to forego keeping the curved cyc wall....to just concentrate on recording studio build

[Wonks]

You can now put a nice big bass trap in the corner.

All the best.

[Studio Jiimaan]

After much thought and reviewing choices we have decided to concentrate on just building recording studio.....the existing curved cyc wall will be eliminated as priority is music production.

Possible layout now could be like this:



As was noted previously, if needed, large retractable sheets could be used, which could be pulled down from the ceiling when there was a photo/video shoot.

[Drew Stephenson]

Looks like a good refinement of the first option.